While I did not cover things within the timeframe I expected, things do seem to be progressing quite nicely. In April, I started covering FUNimation's third season of Detective Conan (Case Closed). One by one, I have covered each episode, or case, when the case last more than one episode, until only one remains (two, according to FUNimation's count). Today, I will be reviewing Case Closed episodes 78 & 79 (Detective Conan episode 76).

As I have given a series synopsis in an earlier post, I will not go over it again.

While out and about, Serena and Rachel talk about a case involving a thief that Serena wants Richard to accept.

However, this thief is no ordinary thief, as he is a master of disguise, down to the minutest details, including changing his voice without any devices.

Now, Jimmy must match wits with a thief that is known as the modern day Arsène Lupin, and he is determined to reveal the identity of the elusive thief.

I really enjoyed this episode. Like episode 52 (Japanese count), the episode started off with a series recap. Even though it was not as good of a recap as that episode, I think that newcomers to the series will like that they do not have to start right at episode one, like one would if they decided to try the manga version of this series before watching the anime. While I would like to give FUNimation credit for this, I cannot do that. The people that do deserve the credit are the Japanese, because when I looked up the Japanese version, which I had to find fansubbed because I do not think that I can trust FUNimation's Japanese track here, a series recap was also present there. As for the case, it was very interesting and got me excited. As I believe I stated quite a few times on this blog, other than the Black Org cases, the other kind of case that I, and many others, enjoy is a case involving KID. This one definitely did not disappoint in that department. There was not a whole lot obvious, not even each of the identities that Kaito Kuroba, otherwise known as KID, assumed. This is definitely something that I would expect, since things would be ruined if I were able to tell exactly whom KID was impersonating. After all, since I could not determine Arsène Lupin's identity in the first story written by Leblanc, a thief based on him better make me wonder who he is in the crowd. I also liked how Kaito Kuroba was able to change his voice without any kind of device. It really added to chameleon comment that Jimmy made about him, and I certainly would believe it. However, seeing as both Vivian Kudo and Vermouth can also accomplish such a feat, I really doubt that such attritube is one unique to Kaito, since both Vivian and Vermouth studied under the same person, who turned out to be Toichi Kuroba, the original KID and Kaito's father. Because of this fact, I would have to say that Kaito learned the ability from his father, though the only thing that I remember Toichi teaching Kaito was to always to always have a poker face in a flashback in the series Magic Kaito, which is KID's own series and the source of the anime episodes that focus on Kaito Kuroba instead of Kudo. There were also some pretty funny parts. The funniest, however, was that when Rachel and Serena were talking about the case in the beginning, she sees Kaito Kuroba and Aoko Nakamori, neither of which are named this episode, walking together and thinks that Jimmy found another girl. What makes this funnier is that it practically reveals the obvious fact that Kaito Kuroba and Jimmy look very much a like. This means that Kaito Kuroba would only need to change his hairstyle and voice to make people think that he is Kudo. Then again, many of the male protagonists in Gosho Aoyama's works look like Jimmy, so I guess that it is his favorite character design for teenage boys. Another nice thing about this case was that it was fairly faithful to its manga counterpart. Pretty much everything I saw here also happened in the manga, with a few minor changes. Even though many of KID's heists are not important to series, I sure am glad that this was more faithful than the two cases that caused one plot hole and the delayed introduction of Haibara. Outside of that, I cannot really think of anything else I liked without repeating myself. The fact that the case was very interesting and the obvious fact that Kaito Kuroba and Jimmy look alike was pointed out, as well as the fact that KID seems to live up to the title of the contemporary Lupin, as far as I can tell, certainly made this a great episode.

Although I liked the episode, there were some issues. First, when aboard the Sebastian's ship, Jimmy and the gang run into old faces. When we find out who they are, they are introduced as different people. The chef is introduced as Dirk Copeland, from episodes 39 and 40 (Japanese count), and the fiancé is introduced as Walton Lee. However, in the manga, the chef is Isaac Hannigan, from episodes 22 and 23 (Japanese count), and the fiancé was Tod, from episode 72 (Japanese count). In the Japanese version of this episode, the two are introduced exactly as they were in the manga. Because of this fact, it looks like FUNimation made a dub error. Thankfully, it is not a dub error that creates a plot hole, like the one found in episodes 48 and 49 (Japanese count). Seeing as this did not affect things, I will label it as a minor issue. Another thing I noticed was, in the credits, Kaito Kuroba's, who is credited as KID, voice actor is claimed to be Mike McFarland. However, Kaito sounded like Jimmy, not like Master Roshi, which Mike's voice for George reminded me of. According to Detective Conan World, Kaito Kuroba is actually voiced by Jerry Jewell, Kudo's English VA. I know that man is not perfect, but I do expect FUNimation to at least list the right VA in the credits. While FUNimation did change things in an otherwise faithful anime adaptation, the thing that does some damage is that Kaito Kuroba's VA is not correct in the credits, which make me wonder how FUNimation is handling the series.

Despite the issues found on FUNimation's end, the fact that the case was exciting made this worth watching. I recommend this to fans of detective, mystery, and crime fiction, as well as fans of Detective Conan (Case Closed), because of the interesting case, as well as the fact that KID and Jimmy finally match wits. As for everyone else, this is a good introduction to the series, as well as a good introduction to the detective, mystery, and crime fiction genres in general.

What are your thoughts on Case Closed episodes 78 and 79? Do you agree or disagree with my views? Do you have anything to add? Feel free to comment.

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